


the one aflame

by SapphicMetatron



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Christmas, F/F, Fluff, Pining, way too much food
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:32:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28400004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphicMetatron/pseuds/SapphicMetatron
Summary: It was a time for family, and for a widowed woman whose daughter could hardly occupy the same space as her, it was a time to simply exist with a cup of hot cocoa.a late christmas fic or something
Relationships: Adora/Angella (She-Ra)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43





	the one aflame

**Author's Note:**

> set sometime in [The One Who Loved +](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26610637/chapters/64882705) chapter 2, wherever it makes sense, idk what i'm doing 
> 
> hope everyone had a nice holiday despite this shitstorm of a year.

Yule was rife with chaotic celebrations, parties, meetings, obligations- much like any other holiday. However, whatever gave rise to this event must’ve been very sacred to Etherians, because Angella was, for once, allowed to  _ not work. _

All guests and dignitaries left to be home. It was a time for family, and for a widowed woman whose daughter could hardly occupy the same space as her, it was a time to simply exist with a cup of hot cocoa.

Depressing as it was, she could appreciate the smaller things. The lightness of her shoulders once the cape was removed, the feeling of her fuzzy robe on her skin, the emptiness of the hallways as she navigated to a lounge room with a nice fireplace. It didn’t snow in Bright Moon, but it did become uncomfortably cold. The décor for this time of year was a lot more subtle than the  _ Halloween  _ nonsense a few months prior.

As Angella settled by the crackling flames, book falling open on her lap, she realized she should probably make the yearly effort to spend time with her daughter before it got too late. She sighed, raked her fingers through her hair in a soothing motion. That rejection could wait an hour or two.

Wings flush on her back, nestled in the cushions and sipping hot cocoa, she began her task for the afternoon: some simple, light reading. It didn’t matter, nor did it need to.

Angella could just...be.

Or so she thought. Heavy footsteps rudely stomped on her serene alone time, followed by a sweet voice humming a jolly yule melody. Angella’s eyes widened at the sight of a woman shamelessly carrying a mountain of food over to her sitting area and placing it on the coffee table like she owned the place. It was none other than Adora, of course.

And while Adora was certainly the type of woman to barge into Angella’s space, chest-puffed, declaring some noble friendship cause or another, she wouldn’t…do it in this fashion.

So both women stared at each other, frozen in shock, for far too long.

“Y-Your Majesty, I-I-I didn’t know, I couldn’t see…” Adora’s eyes fell on the obscene amount of food on her plate as if it explained anything.

Angella let her shoulders fall. “I thought you would be with Glimmer and Bow at a time like this. Why are you here?”

“There’s  _ so  _ much food I didn’t get to try, but they wanted to go out with the others and-this may sound terrible, especially to you, but it’s been so rough lately, being She-Ra and all, I kind of...want to do my own thing, at my own pace. Just once.”

Adora might as well have stolen the feelings out of Angella’s own heart. Yet she remained oblivious to the strange magic floating in the air. Sparks and whatnot. The fire popped and crackled. Angella surprised herself with her own next words, “you can stay if you’d like.”

Her response was to snort, while grabbing the plate of food to take her leave. “No way. I plan on devouring this and I’m not doing that in front of the Queen of Bright Moon. Trust me. It looks ugly.”

Angella brought her hot cocoa to her lips. “You’re not as subtle or polite as you think you are at the dinner table.”

“Ouch.” Despite the theatrics, Adora did actually set her meal back down and sank into the couch. “Listen, the Horde didn’t waste its time with table manners or whatever.”

“I  _ really  _ do not care, Adora.”

And she didn’t. Angella buried her nose in her book and drowned out the loud chewing. She had seen worse in her day.

A few pages later, Angella glanced up to find Adora leaning back, hand on her stomach, and a faraway gaze in her baby blue eyes. The flames danced so clearly on them. A moment fluttered by, in which Angella admired her warrior. No guilt, no fear.

Meanwhile, the plate was empty, save for a few crumbs. If the Horde didn’t favor etiquette, they might’ve rewarded the speed at which its cadets cleaned their plates.

Discarding any notion of detaching her attention from this very distracting woman, Angella closed her book and turned to her fully. “I take it you don’t celebrate Yule in the Fright Zone?”

Adora flinched, awakened from some thought journey which rendered her cheeks bright red. “Huh? Oh, no. I didn’t even know what Yule was until a few days ago, when Glimmer mentioned a party.” Her shoulder muscles visibly tensed as they always did when touching this subject. “Today  _ would  _ be a break day though. Which doesn’t make sense. You’d think Hordak would want to push his troops when everyone’s guards are down.”

“Don’t jinx it,  _ please.”  _

That earned a laugh. Adora’s smiles were always so large and true. “What  _ is  _ Yule anyway? All I see is good food and ornaments all over, but,  _ why?” _

“I haven’t clue.”

“Wait, what? Really? No offense, but I thought  _ you’d  _ know.”

Angella finished her drink and placed an empty mug on the coffee table. “I know that it comes from a winter festival from long long ago. Other than that, I just make sure the parties are thrown and everyone is happy so we can then...well, go back to the war.”

“Hm.” Adora joined in the faraway brooding gaze. “Break day.”

“Break day.”

“That’s depressing.”

“It doesn’t have to be.” Angella rested her head on her palm. “But I suppose I’ve made it so.”

“Unless it turns out you’re actually pulling the strings of the war,  _ somehow,  _ then I really doubt that.” Something compelled Adora to squint at her mysteriously.

Angella squirmed under her intense scrutinizing. “What?”

Whatever she was playing at was promptly dropped. Adora chuckled. “It’s weird how we keep finding each other when we want to be alone, huh?”

“Bright Moon  _ is  _ large...yes, maybe a little.”

“Do you believe in fate?”

Angella shifted in place, her answer hesitating for a split second. “No. Do you?”

A little too late did she realize how odd it was to return the question. Adora’s gaze fell to her own hands. “I’m She-Ra. Everyone tells me I was  _ fated  _ to be here, to be  _ this _ , and that I get no choice…”

“You do.” She let her legs, nude under the robe, dangle free off the couch, then crossed them. “Right here, right now, you could leave if you so pleased. You could do anything you wanted with your power.”

“I, um…” There it was again, that flush spreading on Adora’s cheeks.

“Is the fire too warm?”

“N-no. I, just.” She blinked furiously. “I wish I could believe you. I...I like it here. Maybe I was  _ fated  _ to like it here, so I never left. Are my choices my own, even?”

An intense ache scorched Angella’s chest. She felt over her robe, right where her heart bled for this woman who threw herself at the worst the war had to offer for Bright Moon’s sake. For... _ Angella’s  _ sake, in a way. She might not even want this.

It was all so unfair. 

“I...believe you will surprise yourself, someday.” 

“Maybe not today.” Adora shrugged. Her lips twitched into a soft smile. Baby blue connected with soft amethyst. “I like it here.”

Angella smiled back. “It would be a tragedy if you left.”

There it was, that magic, those sparks. Something about those squared shoulders. Adora glowed with all kinds of power...

She smirked and placed a flat palm on her sternum reverently. “As long as the cooks make ham like that next year, you have my loyalty.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Shortly after that, Adora took her leave. Neither protested. It felt right to set the other free.

Adora didn’t believe she had a choice but to remove herself from Queen Angella’s vicinity. There was only so long she could go without staring at those  _ legs  _ and not imagine...

_...things. _


End file.
